Illustration: Lu Ting/GT

The US economy has been one of the best performers in the world this year as it continues to recover from the financial crisis of 2008.

Recently released US economic data tell the tale. For example, the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index for the US rose to 58.7 in July, up from 56.0 the previous month. July's increase was the largest since December 2005.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index increased 0.4 percent in July, the highest rate since February, indicating employment may pick up in coming quarters, Bloomberg reported on August 5. These figures show the US economy is gradually recovering. Even US Federal Reserve policymakers agreed that the country's job market improved faster than expected in 2013.

Against this promising economic backdrop, the voices calling for the Fed to raise interest rates have gotten louder. The central bank has kept rates near zero since late 2008.

In fact, it was not the loose monetary policy that has spurred economic growth in the US, but the economic and industrial restructuring that occurred after the financial crisis.

Many people will remember that the Obama administration proposed to revive US manufacturing after the crisis. The administration did not only want to move manufacturing industries back to the US. It wanted to create a more advanced American manufacturing sector.

Take Apple Inc as an example. Apple has boosted investment in production and services in the US in recent years. In 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced his intention to?return some of the company's manufacturing jobs to the US. In 2013, Apple announced it would build a factory in Mesa, Arizona. The factory, which would run on renewable energy, was expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. The company also said it would invest $100 million to build a new computer production facility in Texas.

High-tech companies like Apple will bring back jobs and the latest technology in the US, which will help the country develop its manufacturing industry in an innovative way.

Certainly, economic restructuring cannot flourish without innovation. In recent year, the US has made great strides in the fields of information technology and energy, such as the development and utilization of shale gas resources. Shale gas has provided the US economy with an inexpensive source of energy. It has also helped the country reduce its reliance on foreign energy sources.

In addition, new emerging industries such as the information industry have become a driving force behind US economic development.

We have noticed that many young Chinese people number among the participants in these emerging industries. They think their jobs are more important than the work done on Wall Street.

The development of these emerging industries is based on local demand. A company can only meet the needs of its customers if it understands them. For instance, AT&T is in discussions with the North Carolina state government to roll out a fiber optic network for residential customers. The Internet service is supposed to deliver speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. This fast network will also help other industries develop.

There is also great potential in the US to develop industries such as environmental protection, biotechnology and healthcare.

Actually, the US economy has undergone restructuring several times. The economic expansion of the 1990s was the longest in the recorded history of the US due to its high growth, low inflation and high employment rate. For instance, the unemployment rate averaged just 5.7 percent in the 1990s, according to media reports. This golden age resulted from the country's transition from manufacturing to services.

We'll have to wait and see if the country can accomplish the same feat by transitioning to a technology- and science-based economy. Based on the past, however, it seems likely.

The author is a research fellow with Beijing-based private strategic think tank Anbound. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn